At the end of this NHL season, Don Cherry’s contract with CBC expires and he becomes a free agent. Consequently, if CBC or anyone else fails to sign him to a new deal, the next Stanley Cup final will be Cherry’s last hurrah.

Although CBC will continue to air Hockey Night in Canada, Rogers assumes editorial control — including staffing — and receives all ad revenue, and there’s no guarantee they will want him to be a part of it in any form.

CBC could try to renew Cherry’s contract and keep him as part of the lineup, but given that the network is no longer making money off hockey, his contract could prove too large (and illogical) for the public broadcaster to absorb. Then there’s the question of what happens to HNIC host Ron MacLean. Does the CBC let him go? Either a network hires both, or the duo is going to be split up.

When asked about Cherry on Tuesday, Rogers executives were decidedly noncommittal.

“Over the next months and years, we will evaluate all facets of our production and our programming,” said Keith Pelley, president of Rogers Media. “At this particular time, we’re just celebrating today the rights that we have acquired and not really have thought of it much more than just that.”

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was quick to jump in to try to mollify any Cherry concerns.

“Cherry is a great talent and a good friend, and obviously it’s somebody who we take very seriously as part of the game,” he said.

All of this is to say that if Coach’s Corner is going to continue on any network in its present form, it will require some creativity to pull it off.

CBC will be allowed to air HNIC for at least the next four years. However, the HNIC brand is now owned by Rogers. The show will be made by Rogers. And Rogers promises change.

“It will be the NHL like never before,” Pelley vowed Tuesday.

Rogers also has three exclusive nights to broadcast any game involving a Canadian team — Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays — which means marquee matchups, including Leafs games, could be shown on Sunday, possibly diminishing HNIC as a major draw for Canadian hockey fans.

Further, Rogers has also promised to air other hockey matchups on its City TV stations while HNIC is on, and Rogers may simulcast the Saturday night hockey game on Sportsnet as well. So the days in which HNIC held a monopoly are over.

“Sometimes it’s almost surreal — acquiring the most coveted content in all of Canada, and there is nothing even close, which is the national rights to Hockey Night in Canada,” Pelley said.

3. How does that affect CBC?

While CBC holds on to HNIC, there will be job losses. Additionally, CBC won’t have to pay to broadcast the show, but Rogers will get all of the ad revenue. Add this to Rogers offering competing games on Saturdays and other prime-time national broadcasts on Wednesdays and Sundays, and CBC’s traditional Saturday night juggernaut will be a ghost of its former self.

In an internal memo, CBC president Hubert Lacroix said it wasn’t “the outcome we had hoped for,” which seems a tremendous understatement. The loss of hockey revenue could affect other CBC elements, like the news side of the organization as well as original programming.

Anywhere Rogers wants, for the most part, as the company has now largely seized control of the bulk of televised games across the country. That includes national rights for the regular season and the playoffs, as well as the All-Star Game, the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Stanley Cup final, on all of its platforms in all languages. Hockey will be available on more channels, including all Sportsnet regional stations and Sportsnet 360. Rogers has also secured rights to mobile coverage, online streaming and satellite radio.

5. What happens to “The Hockey Theme”?

Rogers appears to own everything but the song. The iconic “Hockey Theme” will stay with TSN, although fewer households will hear the familiar “dun-dun-dun-dun-dunna” blare from their TV screens.

When TSN’s owner CTV landed the rights to the iconic HNIC anthem in 2008, it was seen as a major boost to the network that claims “Hockey Lives Here.” But now that TSN has been nationally shut out, the theme song will no longer be heard coast to coast before any NHL game. TSN won’t give up the rights to the song, however, and said Tuesday that it will use “The Hockey Theme” for the hockey broadcasts it has left.

6. What NHL games will be on TSN?

Although TSN is cut off from broadcasting national games or the playoffs, regional packages with teams allow the network to air some local content. Current deals include about 25 to 30 Leaf games, 60 Winnipeg Jets games and 75 per cent of Montreal Canadiens games.

7. What about the hockey commentators?

Is this the rise of Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos? Look for already entrenched Sportsnet personalities to become even bigger, while the future of TSN’s well-known hockey personalities is as unclear as Ron MacLean and Don Cherry’s. It’s possible favourites like Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and James Duthie may choose to stay with the network as analysts, but expect some movement in the next few years.

8. How will TSN manage?

Although national NHL games are off the table, TSN still holds the rights to world junior hockey championships (although Rogers owns the rights to junior hockey and the Memorial Cup.) Beyond that, TSN will likely double down on its role as a source for NHL analysis, ramping up its already saturated coverage of the trade deadline, and finding ways to attract viewers before a game, during intermissions and after the buzzer. And expect the network to make big deals out of its other major sporting broadcasts, including the CFL, NFL, the NBA, golf’s majors and tennis’ grand slam tournaments.

9. What does this mean for Rogers?

As the sole Canadian rightsholder for the vast majority of NHL content for the next 12 years, Rogers has solidified itself as “Canada’s hockey company,” as well as the dominant player in the Canadian sports landscape.

Rogers owns a 37.5 per cent equity stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the same conglomerate whose marquee team, the Maple Leafs, were just valued by Forbes as the NHL’s only billion-dollar franchise ($1.15 billion). Further, Rogers maintains 100 per cent ownership of the Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre, and has strategic partnerships with the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers. Not to mention long-term media agreements with the NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA, MLS, NCAA, Rogers Cup, UFC, international soccer and more.

10. How will this affect the NHL?

The Rogers deal is worth $5.2 billion over 12 years. The agreement doubles what the NHL previously received, from about $190 to $433 million a season. Teams are expected to evenly share in the revenue (although Canadian teams are expected to get a bit more as an “invasion fee”), with a subsequent jump in the salary cap.

To put this deal in perspective, the 10-year agreement between NBC and the NHL is only $2 billion — less than half of what Rogers is paying. Consequently, Canada’s seven-team NHL presence makes up 70 per cent of the NHL’s television revenue.

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